Theatrical & Improvisational Techniques for The
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THEATRICAL & IMPROVISATIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE CORPORATE WORLD: HOW THE PERFORMING ARTS ARE HELPING CREATE A MORE ADAPTABLE WORKFORCE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY BY MICHELLE N. BAXTER THEATRICAL & IMPROVISATIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR THE CORPORATE WORLD: HOW THE PERFORMING ARTS ARE HELPING CREATE A MORE ADAPTABLE WORKFORCE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Drexel University by Michelle N. Baxter in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Arts Administration June 2014 © Copyright 2014 Michelle N. Baxter. All Rights Reserved. DEDICATIONS This paper is dedicated to those who have helped shape my path. To my Carey family – our time together may have only been 2 short years, but you will never know the impact all of you have had on me. To my FoodPlay family - there are too many of you to list here – the adventures we shared are always close to my heart. To Abbey and Terry Lynn. And last, but most certainly not least, to Ryan, Terry, Debbie, Christopher, John, Christine, and Jackson – thank you for believing in me and supporting me through every step of this journey. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people who have contributed their time, effort, and thoughts to this paper. First and foremost, none of this would have been possible without the faculty of Drexel University’s Arts Administration Graduate program, who have constantly offered their time, guidance, and support over the past two years. I would specifically like to thank my thesis advisor, Neville Vakharia, for his unwavering support throughout this process. I would also like to thank Julie Hawkins, who guided me through the very early stages in Seminar, as well as the department’s “thesis guru,” Dr. Andrew Zitcer. Thank you all for always going above and beyond and for providing extremely thoughtful insight and feedback. Lastly, I am extremely grateful to the individuals I interviewed for this paper, who were so generous in offering their time, resources, and knowledge: Mara Bain, Quinn Bauriedel, Bobbi Block, Alan Brown, Jeff Klein, Nick Napolitano, Tami Nelson, Patrick Short, and Terry Withers. It is through your passion and creativity that the performing arts are given another platform to showcase their transformative powers. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... VI ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... VII INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE: A STUDY OF COMEDYSPORTZ PORTLAND AND WESTERN NATIONAL INSURANCE GROUP .............................................................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER TWO: A STUDY OF PIG IRON THEATRE COMPANY AND THE WHARTON LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA .................................... 23 CHAPTER THREE: THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAMBUILDING .................................................... 32 CONCLUSION: INCREASING AWARENESS OF PERFORMING ART-BASED CORPORATE TRAINING PROGRAMS ........................................................................................................................ 36 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................... 44 APPENDIX A: WESTERN NATIONAL INSURANCE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................................................... 45 APPENDIX B: COMEDYSPORTZ PORTLAND – WEBSITE HOME PAGE (PARTIAL) .......... 46 APPENDIX C: COMEDYSPORTZ PORTLAND TEAMBUILDING WEBPAGE (PARTIAL) .... 47 APPENDIX D: WESTERN NATIONAL INSURANCE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY (CONDUCTED POST-WORKSHOP) .................................................................................................. 48 APPENDIX E: PIG IRON THEATRE COMPANY – WEBSITE HOME PAGE (PARTIAL) ....... 49 APPENDIX F: PIG IRON THEATRE COMPANY – EDUCATION PAGE (PARTIAL) ............... 50 iv APPENDIX G: PIG IRON THEATRE COMPANY – LEADERSHIP AND TEAM-BUILDING PAGE (PARTIAL) ................................................................................................................................... 51 APPENDIX H: THE NEW MOVEMENT THEATER – WEBSITE HOME PAGE (PARTIAL) .. 52 APPENDIX I: THE NEW MOVEMENT THEATER – CORPORATE TRAINING PAGE (PARTIAL) ............................................................................................................................................... 53 APPENDIX J: COMEDYSPORTZ PHILADELPHIA – WEBSITE HOME PAGE (PARTIAL) ... 54 APPENDIX K: COMEDYSPORTZ PHILADELPHIA – CORPORATE TEAMBUILDING PAGE (PARTIAL) ............................................................................................................................................... 55 APPENDIX L: UCB THEATRE– WEBSITE HOME PAGE (PARTIAL) ........................................ 56 APPENDIX M: UCB WORKPLACE– WEBSITE HOME PAGE (PARTIAL) ................................ 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................................... 58 v LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 - ComedySportz Portland’s Goals and Objectives Web Page (partial) 39 vi ABSTRACT Performing arts organizations are helping create a more adaptable and innovative workforce by providing the business sector with corporate workshops that utilize theatrical and improvisational techniques that build leadership skills and promote teambuilding. This paper aims to help performing arts organizations see the mutually beneficial practice of offering corporate training workshops. These programs not only help businesses explore the ways in which they can remain relevant and innovative in today’s competitive global market, but in doing so, they also create sustainability for the arts organization itself. Performing arts organizations must expand marketing efforts for corporate training programs, which not only increase earned revenue but also raise awareness about the role of the arts in the creation of a more innovative and adaptive workforce. While some performing arts organizations may look at this as “going corporate,” the organizations that provide these workshops truly see this as yet another way that the arts are able to positively impact our communities. vii INTRODUCTION “Awakening creative potential in someone else is the most beautiful gift you can give.” –Alan Brown1 “Art for art’s sake” has never been an ideal closely held by Americans. The struggle to find adequate public funding for the arts has been extremely difficult since the culture wars of the 1980s and ‘90s, and the economic recession of 2007 - 2009 has only made the situation that much harder. During these tough economic times, many nonprofit arts organizations are looking for ways to diversify their funding and increase earned revenue. While there has been a strong focus on educational programming to help fulfill this goal (while also fulfilling a huge gap in the public school system), it is time the arts look to support another crucial issue in the United States: the creation of a more adaptable workforce that is better prepared to rebuild the nation’s economy through creativity and innovation. I attended National Arts Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. in April 2013. The hosting organization, Americans for the Arts (AFTA), spent a day training enthusiastic arts advocates on the main objectives of Arts Advocacy Day. One of those objectives was to ask legislators to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). We were armed with plenty of information, 1 The researcher participated in a one-on-one session with Alan Brown on April 29, 2014 as part of a residency Brown was holding within Drexel University’s Arts Administration Graduate Program. 1 including important figures from AFTA’s 2012 report Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, which AFTA labeled as “the most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted.” And yet, armed with the information that in FY 2010, the arts and culture sector put $61.1 billion into the economy while also providing 2.2 million jobs, arts advocates once again found themselves this year asking Congress not to cut funding to the NEA. Unfortunately, it appears as though the “economic impact argument” is not making as much of an impact as arts advocates would hope. While those in the arts will always tout the benefits of how important the arts were in their education, the argument regarding arts education in the public school system also seems to carry less weight with our elected officials. This made me wonder, “What about arts education for adults?” Educators and advocates often discuss the correlation between youth participation in the arts and greater academic achievement (Catterall, Dumais, and Hampden-Thompson 2012; Fiske 1999), so how can we as a sector show a practical, beneficial correlation between the arts and the everyday life of a working, taxpaying adult? While many performing arts organizations offer classes geared towards adults, I am interested in making a comparison similar to that of arts education and how that improves youth test scores and overall academic success. In this regard, the parallel for adults is the correlation